Decision to build a new house

Why building a house when there are literally thousands of houses on the market at the moment for rock bottom prices? It is not a decision we made lightly and Jen has seen some of the consequences when things don't turn out the way you want them to. We came to this decision because of the following reasons.

1. We can't find a house on the market in a good school district that is energy efficient and has two master suites.
2. We are not DIY people and renovating existing houses to bring those houses up to exactly what we want will require a lot of extra time (and extra surprises) plus require us to hire a builder/general contracter anyway.
3. Knowing the entire life cycle of a house is a very comforting thought for us.

For those in the decision making process, please keep the following things in mind:

• Building a house is more expensive. The market value of your house is probably lower than your building cost for a little bit. Make sure you have a good chunk of money to put down (min. of 10%, more is advisable) and don't expect to move for the next 10 years.
• You need a credit score of at least 730 to 750 to even qualify for a construction loan.
• You might need to move twice (if your current house sells before you take possession of your newly built house).
• You have to be ready to make a LOT of decisions. Do your homework and agree upon the basics of your new house BEFORE you talk to designers and/or contractors.
• You have a solid relationship with your spouse/significant other since building a house will create a higher stress level in the relationship since you need to make a lot of decisions...

So, with all that said, we decided that we were ready to build a house. Let the fun begin!